Synchro

So, you want to learn about synchronised swimming. Well, can you imagine running for up to five minutes while performing acrobatics, holding your breath, looking graceful, and having to keep in time to the music? No? That’s synchronised swimming!

Synchronised swimming routines are essentially athletic movements performed in water and choreographed to music.

FACTS ABOUT SYNCHRONISED SWIMMING
The sport used to be known as ‘water ballet’

It is incredibly strenuous and skillful. A test on all the Olympic sports before the London 2012 Olympic Games found that synchronised swimmers ranked second only to long distance runners in aerobic capacity!

Competitors need strength and flexibility to perform twists and lifts as well as rhythm and flair to synchronise and interpret the music, which they listen to through underwater speakers.

Swimmers commonly hold their breath underwater for around a minute, but sometimes between two and three minutes.

Routines can be anything from two and a half minutes to five minutes long, depending on whether they perform alone or part of a team, but one rule applies to all routines
No athletes are permitted to touch the bottom of the pool during a routine, even when lifting one another.